Hal took Edvin by the elbow and jerked his head to the side. The teen nodded and followed his skirl out of the shelter and over to the trees to take cover from the rain. Edvin look at Hal inquisitively.
"What's the matter?"
"Have you noticed anything the matter with Zac?"
Edvin stopped and thought about it. Now that Hal mentioned it, Zac did seem to have been a little closed off. Well, more than usual. Now that he had thought about it, he hadn't seen Zac since breakfast, and he hadn't showed up for lunch.
"Yeah, actually. I have. Haven't seen him since breakfast either."
"I noticed that too."
"So what do we do?"
"We find him."
The two went back inside called a meeting. The boys split up into pairs (Hal made sure that the twins were separated) and they set off into the rain.
It was Stefan and Ingvar who found their missing teammate. He was sitting on the riverbank under the shade of a willow tree. Stefan couldn't help but feel a stab of pity as he watched the hunched figure through the drizzle. He tapped his fellow's elbow and lowered his voice to a whisper.
"Over there."
The two of them wandered over and sat down on either side of Zac. None of them spoke, Stefan and Ingvar observing their friend staring out over the swollen river. They followed his gaze, curious as to what he was looking at. They found nothing.
"You don't have to be here."
The low voice brought Stefan and Ingvar's eyes back to Zac.
"We know."
Stefan nodded his agreement.
"We wouldn't be here if we didn't want to be."
They sat in silence. It was taking all of Stefan's self-control not to squirm with impatience. He was dying to ask a question, but didn't think it would be appreciated. However, Zac was more observant then was given credit for.
"I was four years old when my sister, Zoe, was born. Dad was a sea wolf and kept us with him for as long as he could. When I was nine, his ship attacked Sonderland. No one remembered, but it was the day after Zoe's birthday, meaning it was the day my mum died."
His voice broke with emotion. His audience kept silence, not sure why he was telling them this, but waited for him to go on.
"The night beforehand, they had stopped in a pub for a drink. One of the men had started sprouting their plans to anyone who would listen to him. Word got to the port they were attacking, and they were ambushed. Everyone was killed. The soldiers sent to torch the ship found me and Zoe huddled in the stern and figured that they could make a little extra money by selling us as slaves."
Zac's tone had taken on a bitter edge, and he practically spat the word 'slaves. Stefan and Ingvar shared a look over the top of Zac's head, suddenly uncomfortable with their mindless acceptance of slavery.
"I didn't see Zoe for another three years. She was ten, and had spent the last seven months in forced prostitution. I was working on a farm, and had to do much manual labour, including chopping down trees. I killed her master and she escaped, only to be caught and made to work on the same farm as me. They knew she was a slave because of the marl on her wrist."
Zac pulled up his right sleeve a little, enough that they could see an ugly black tattoo marring his skin.
"Every slave bought or sold in Sonderland must wear the mark. A year ago, we both tried to escape, but the master was a bowman. He got off a shot before I made it to the tree line. I turned to see my baby sister lying face down in the mud. I wouldn't have been able to continue running, except she made me promise. I ran as fast as I could until I passed out. Once I awoke, I made my way south, learning what I could about fighting in return for work. When I arrived in Skandia, I decided to try for the brotherband program."
He paused, and took a shaky breath.
"Zoe died on the same day as my parents."
"That day was today, wasn't it?"
Zac grimaced at Ingvar.
"Yeah."
AN: So I thought I'd pull at your heartstrings a bit. I'll admit, I almost cried writing this. But I hope this explains the prologue. See you soon!